The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

HUNDREDS of webshop employees took to the streets yesterday morning to demonstrate the number of persons who could be out of a job with a majority “no” vote in Monday’s gambling referendum.

Organised by the Vote “Yes” Bahamas campaign, webshop employees and supporters marched from Market Street to Bay Street – waving signs and accompanied by Junkanoo musicians – before the crowd ended outside Parliament in Rawson Square.

Leading the dancing crowd were noted gaming operators, including Craig Flowers of FML Group of Companies, Sebas Bastian of Island Luck, and Deyvon Jones of Whatfall.

The purpose of the march was to “put a public face on who actually works in the industry” and allow the public to see just how many persons rely on webshop employment to make ends meet, campaign organisers said.

The campaign co-coordinator said: “They want people to see just how powerful this industry is, how many people are working in the industry and that they are Bahamians like all of us who want jobs.”

He said the webshops had suspended business that morning to allow employees to participate in the march.

Lead spokeswoman, Teresa Moxey-Ingraham acknowledged the “overwhelming” number of participants and said the march is “making (Bahamians) realize the scope of potential for this industry is limitless.”

Mr Bastian, through a megaphone, declared to the crowd that they have been “discriminated against” for “far too long” and called on the crowd to vote “yes” on Monday.

Speaking to the press, he said he wants the Monday’s referendum to be compared to the position taken by Sir Lynden Pindling.

“I want January 28 not just to be the day the ‘yes’ vote won the referendum, but the day that there was change to the constitution – the constitution that has discriminated against us for so long,” he said.

“I want January 28 to be a day in history, just as they threw the mace out there and Sir Lynden did this. People have to understand there were times in society when people saw Sir Lynden as wrong and the people who were in power, as right.

“Now if you look at it today, people see Sir Lynden as right and those people as wrong. So the 28th is going to change things. People may see us as wrong now, but down the line they will see that this movement and everything was all worth it.”

He also confirmed he would shut down his shops if a majority “no” is passed, but not his website.

“We would close down the physical stores themselves but the website will basically remain on through the mere fact that the website is not illegal. It is licensed by the Isles of Man, the serve. rs are located in Isles of Man, and I have a gaming license to operate islandluck.com,” Mr Bastian said. “It has zero to do with the Bahamas. It is just accessed by Bahamians from the Bahamas, so that makes my part of that business, perfectly legal.”

Mr Bastian confirmed he has 37 outlets which have 437 employees, about 87 mobile PDAs who are paid on commission, and 138 franchises where panels are in various bars and convenience stores – which have their own employees.

Remarking on the size of the crowd, Mr Flowers noted they had to downsize the number to make it more manageable for police.

“We know that this crowd could have been three times as large, but due to the fact that the authorities here have difficulties in controlling large crowds, we kept it down to a controllable number,” he said.

“(We are) demonstrating that we are people, we are human beings, we are not criminals. We are here to defend the position in which we find ourselves today in reference to our jobs. We are here only for the purpose of putting faces to the numbers that have been alleged by so many people during this whole campaign.”

He continued: “I just think the government is asking the people of the country to give it the opportunity so that it can proceed forward with a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum and that’s all we are doing here is trying to encourage the ‘yes’ vote.”

Mr Flowers acknowledged the opposing vote “no” campaign is resonating with voters and explained regardless of the outcome, the entire country must band together after the referendum.

“We are not going to entertain for one minute, that because someone votes ‘no’, they seem to be distanced or alienated from us. That’s not what we are about,” he said. “We’re about at the end of the day, after the 28th, unite ourselves, collectively get together, whether it be ‘yes’ or ‘no’, get our country back together and proceed down the guided line as to which the government foresees to go.”

Participants in the march included an array of webshop employees, all wearing vote “yes” paraphernalia, and carrying signs urging voters to choose “yes.”

One security officer named George said his job at Island Luck allows him to support his three children and take care of his family.

Another woman spoke of her daughter, who just had a baby, and is relying on her job at a local webshop to make ends meet and care for her newborn.